Feb 14 - Today from Proverbs 14 we look at verse 23
"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."
Hard work. An ethic which is apparently becoming more of a negative attribute in current generations. This proverb (rightly) says, "Hard work pays off." It might be more appropriate to say, "Hard work eventually pays off." That's the catch in a 'right now' generation.
Mere talk. We're getting better at it all the time. One of the most common 'mere talks' that I hear today is, "You know, we should. . .". When one says "we should", it takes the pressure off "I should". If "we" aren't motivated, it's not going to happen. What's the matter with "us" anyway?
Another 'mere talker' is a dreamer. Ecclesiastes is another little gem of a book. It contains a lot of 'common sense' proverbs. Chapter five verse seven says, "Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God." God, our eternal Father, sets a wonderful example. He is constantly working. We keep Him plenty busy in turning evil to work for good, in working all things to good. Only God can do that, and He does it all the time. Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer set a wonderful example. There was a great work of redemption to be done. He didn't just dream about a restored people, He went to the cross. That was hard work, beyond our human comprehension! But look at the profit it brought! I know it profited me, and I am eternally grateful.
Hard work. Let's not minimize it; let's embrace it. Let's be a people who honor our Father and our Lord. He has empowered us by His Spirit to work hard in all areas of opportunity. Turning again to Ecclesiastes we read in verse ten of chapter nine, " Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." What opportunities has God placed before you to profit His Kingdom? When is the last time you said, "You know, we should. . ." Should what? Can you take the initiative? Can you put your hand to it? Who knows, maybe there are more out there who think "we should" do it, and once YOU begin, they will join.
I leave you with this final thought (promise) from the New Testament:
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." -Galatians 6:9
Even reaping a harvest is hard work - but a joyous work. That's what all of our hard work was for to begin with! After the harvest there is great celebration!
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2 comments:
Ha Ha Ha When I read this I think of my neighbors across the street.
Every time it snows I am out there for 1 to 2 hrs. shoveling away the snow. Many times this task is almost physically impossible for me, but I just keep at it and work faster to get it done. I push myself more when it gets hard and I feel the pain in my back.
I look at my neighbors and there are four adults that live there all in between the age of 20 and 30 and not once have they picked up a shovel (I mention this just so you know they are physically able). They just plow their vehicle's through the snow. I see then park in the street when the snow gets too deep in their drive way and I see them struggle when their vehicle's get stuck.
So from this either we work to have the hope of things never reaching a bad difficult point or we work to get out of a mess we have created or a mess we didn't work to avoid. But over all we all have to work. It all depends on attitude. Do we work for things or for God?
So the more people fail to seek God, the more the society becomes lazy and falls asleep. But no matter where they decide to point the finger of blame; judgment from Him is unavoidable. As long as we try and try again; put our all into it is what matters.
Work or no work we may still live in poverty no matter what for our whole earthly dwelling. Or we may get something handed to us that we didn't work for. Our success in the worldly view is insignificant. We read a lot of this in Psalms.
Like a snow-clogged driveway, God sometimes allows us to suffer the consequences of our 'slothfulness' (a proverbial term). We can keep hoping and dreaming that there will be a thaw tomorrow - but there can just as easily be another storm.
Kudos to you for 'staying on top of it'.
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